Breathing
by Kasumi S
Summary: 1x2 sap. After Heero unfeelingly says something that hurts Duo badly, Duo sulks in a tree in the rain.


WARNING: There is much sap ahead. There are many repetitions of the word 'damn'. There is shounen ai and there is Duo-with-a-slight-cold. If this scares you in any possible way, then please do me a huge favor and don't read this fic. If you like the sound of this so far, then by all means, proceed. Song is by Lifehouse. If the lyrics are wrong, then please tell me.  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing in any way, shape or form. Though the pilots wrapped in gundamium chains and delivered to my dorm room would be a welcome Christmas gift.  
  
Breathing  
  
***  
'Cause I am hanging on every word you say   
And even if you don't wanna speak tonight,  
That's all right, all right with me  
'Cause I want nothing more   
Than to sit outside heaven's door  
And listen to you breathing  
That's where I wanna be, yeah.  
***  
  
Damn Heero Yuy. Damn him to hell. Thus was the basic path of Duo Maxwell's thoughts. He was perched comfortably on a fairly large tree branch as he brooded darkly about his partner. Let's get back to him, shall we? Now where were we? Oh yes, the damning of Heero-the-Perfect-Bastard-Yuy.  
  
Damn him, damn him, damn him. Damn him for being the Perfect Soldier. For being an insensitive bastard. For being a blind idiot. And damn me for being in love with him. He sighed and closed his eyes, for the tears in his eyes threatened to spill. Nevertheless, dampness appeared on his cheeks. Of course, it could've been the fact that it was *raining* and he was in a *tree*, but he knew the moisture of the earth was mingling with the saltier drops that were his tears. Damn him for making me cry.  
  
Earlier, Duo had been rummaging through Heero's dresser, looking for a clean shirt to wear after a shower. Heero had to have something other than green tanktops... Seeing a small metal box in one of the drawers, he brought it out and asked, "Hey Heero, what's in here?"  
  
When Heero saw the item in question, he got up from his laptop, and snatched it back before Duo could blink. Then he growled what had cracked Duo's laughing facade and eventually made him cry, as you just saw: "Look, I don't give a damn if you're in the same safehouse as me, or even in the same room, but don't touch my property."  
  
Duo stared at him in shock for a while before bolting out the door and up his tree. That's where we came in.  
  
Inside, Heero gazed out into the rain with a scowl. Hn. Duo no baka, staying out in the rain like that. He would become sick, therefore jeopardizing the mission. And besides, Heero didn't like it when Duo was sick. Not only because a perfectly good Gundam pilot was out of commission, but because he didn't like seeing Duo sick or injured. If possible, he would've kept Duo from all harm. He couldn't discern what he felt for the little idiot. He had never been trained to interpret emotions and therefore thought it unnecessary. How could he have predicted Duo Maxwell?  
  
Heero walked to the door and called out into the rain, "Duo, get in here before you get sick!"  
  
A rebellious voice replied, "No! I'll stay out here if I feel like it!"  
  
Heero sighed. He would have to watch Duo being sick and nurse him back to health then. "Fine! It will be no fault of mine if you are sick while we are on the mission!"  
  
Duo sighed. "Humph. Mission, mission, mission. All he ever thinks about is the mission. That and his damn laptop. Doesn't listen to a word I say." He stayed out for fifteen more minutes before sprinting into the warm dryness of the safehouse.  
  
Heero listened, disgruntled, to Duo sneezing as he played a CD in his room. He got up and left a tray with hot chocolate, a sandwich and some aspirin at Duo's door to feel less guilty. Why was he guilty anyway? It was his fault Duo was sick. Still, a pain nipped at his heart at the thought of Duo with pneumonia or the flu.  
  
Night descended upon them, and Duo, warm in his cocoon of blankets only sniffled a bit from his cold and soon fell asleep.  
  
Later, Heero left his bedroom and settled outside Duo's door. It had become a habit of his to sit outside the braided baka's door. Just to listen for his steady breathing. It gave Heero a sense of... not happiness, but contentment. What did he feel for him anyway, if it made him want to protect him and hold him...? It wasn't friendship; it was deeper. What was deeper than friendship? All at once, it hit Heero like lightning. He was in love with Duo. Curiously, he probed at this strange new emotion. The dictionary said love was a strong affection, attachment and attraction to a person. What he felt for Duo was all this and more. He would have to research more on it later... Right now, all he wanted to do was listen to Duo breath.  
  
(AN: I thought I'd end it here, but then I thought, Nah!)  
  
Duo awoke. What the hell woke me up? His stomach growled. Oh yeah... It's been hours since my sandwich. Time for a... He glanced at his clock. ...Two-o'clock-in-the-morning snack. He got out of bed, opened the door and nearly tripped over a warm mass of something that exclaimed, "Shimatta! Watch where you're going, baka!"  
  
Duo retorted heatedly, "Well, I'm not the one sitting in the middle of the hallway in the middle of the night for no apparent reason!" He looked down through the dark at Heero, who had his knees drawn up to his chest, his arms resting on them and he felt his anger die. He crouched down and asked inquisitively, "What are you doing here anyway?"  
  
Heero gazed at Duo's earnest face and replied in equal seriousness, "I was listening to you breathing."  
  
Duo felt his heart pound; his blood was rushing through his veins and his breath quickened. "And... and why is that?"  
  
Heero wavered for a moment before answering simply, "Ai shiteru."  
  
Duo couldn't keep a grin from surfacing. "I'm sorry. I didn't catch that; could you repeat it?"  
  
Heero growled out, "Duo no baka," before pulling Duo to him and planting his lips on Duo's. Duo laughed into the kiss and pulled away to survey Heero Yuy's eyes clouded over with desire.  
  
"Heero, I love you." With this, Heero's eyes cleared. "And I just want you to know... you don't have to sit outside my door anymore. You can come in and lay beside me and listen to me breathe all night if you want."  
  
Heero then smiled what Duo would remember for all his years as "the-first-time-I-ever-saw-him-smile-and-he-looked-gorgeous" smile. "Yes, I would like that."  
  
***  
Aah, it's finally done. Did you like it? Well, like or hate, please review. If review, I shall love you forever...  
Kasumi S. 


End file.
